Russian distributor 1C-SoftClub was forced to halt sales of the WWII real-time strategy game Company of Heroes 2 after consumers complained about the portrayal of Russian forces in the game. After numerous player complaints about Russian forces being portrayed as having a ruthless leadership and taking liberties with history, the distributor decided to stop shipping the game to retailers, and reached out to publisher Sega. Sega said that it was looking into these concerns.

"Sega and Relic are aware of the press stories circulating concerning Company of Heroes 2 and the historical context of the game from a Russian perspective," reads a line from the statement. "At this time we cannot offer any further comment, however we are taking this issue very seriously and are investigating these concerns thoroughly with all relevant partners."

At issue is how Company of Heroes 2 portrays the commander of Russian forces as ruthless; ordering men to fight or be shot, or that some men fought without having proper weapons or supplies. Many angry consumers have reviewed the game on Metacritic and other places, calling it outright propaganda and dishonorable to the memory of those who fought against the Nazis during WWII.

A Change.org petition has also been launched asking Valve Software to effectively ban the game in CIS countries. It has 17,158 supporters already.

Comments

They evidently didn't play the original Call of Duty then, as (IIRC) the Russian campaign had you basically being shoved through a line of other men, being handed a rifle and a clip of ammo (except you kind of missed getting any), and then being led straight at the enemy from the beach all the while being threatened with death if they retreated...

As I said on Polygon (before their fascist moderators deleted it), I think this confirms the US won the Cold War because the former USSR is adopting our Western methods of bitching about thoroughly inconsequential things.

When it comes to history it is hardly "Inconsequential". The issue isn't so much with the game, as it is with the way it portrays the facts of how the military acted back then in regards to the treatment of its forced into service conscripts.

It becomes consequential when people are being so misinformed they aren't aware of the true nastiness of war, and the actions their government took during such a time.

Even the U.S. has had to fess up to its atrocities, and is constantly called out on it. Thing is, we're usually calling ourselves out since keeping it secret here isn't done by executing or hiding anyone who disagree's. (sure there may be attempts, but we've seen how well they are at that so far :p )

Haven't played the game but from what i've read this sounds it.. Reading the article all I could think of was that they were irked by the uncensored truth of what happened. I'm kind of curious now how the people of Russia were taught about what was done to their people back then.

If theres more I'd love to hear about it, but big back log and no time for new game..

Going back.. i wonder what the russian players of CoD and CoD2 thought of those games where you actually were a soldier being told that, and witness first hand several without firearms, no ammo, and at least one instance that i recall where a guy tried to run and was shot by the commanding officer.